Aug. 11, 2013

When it comes to Japanese role-playing games, conventional knowledge is that Final Fantasy rules the West while Dragon Quest rules the Land of the Rising Sun. If there ever was a third entry to complete a JRPG triumvirate, however, the long-running Tales series would be a shoo-in.

Its latest entry, Tales of Xillia chronicles the tale of aspiring medical student Jude Mathis and spirit user Milla Maxwell as they unravel a sinister plot by the kingdom of Rashugal to use spirit energy for war. That may not exactly sound like the most original of plots but the game does a fairly good job of presenting a JRPG-style story for fans of role-playing games. Presentation is also a strong point of Xillia, which has to be the most fluid and best-looking Tales game released here so far. Combat, meanwhile, remains a key draw, with Xillia serving up the latest iteration of Tales’ active battle system. That means the ability to control your characters directly during battle as opposed to a traditional turn-based system. Player linking adds another level of strategy to the game, allowing you to benefit from your AI partners special skills such as enemy binding and magic shielding. It also lets you to trigger explosive combo attacks for more damage or wide-range healing. The ability to level up the parameters and skills you want adds some customization as well.

Downsides include sparse detail in some field maps, some AI quirks while linked, and the lack of a Japanese language option. Overall, though, Xillia hits just the right notes for fans of the genre.

As someone who once got called “old man” by a bunch of brats, er, adorable little children at a daycare in Tokyo, objectively reviewing a game designed for kids can sometimes be a challenge. Granted I can sometimes have the maturity of a nine-year-old, but still... So in the interest of professional journalism, I decided to play “Disney’s Planes” for the Wii with a 9-year-old cousin whom I affectionately call “iSong.” Hopefully, OSHA doesn’t consider this child labor.

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Anywho, “Planes” chronicles the adventures of Dusty and his flying pals from Disney’s latest 3D-animated movie. After a tutorial that teaches you the basics of flying via motion control, you’re given your choice of several play modes. Story mode consists of four stages that require you to help out with various tasks such as dusting crops, spray painting barns and bulldozing obstacles. Yes, you’re a plane that can bulldoze stuff, something that may 9-year-old cousin never questioned because — unlike me — he’s not a jaded adult who got called an old man by little kids. Air Rallies mode, meanwhile, allows you to race around a course with the option to use items against enemies. To preserve your sanity, I recommended turning item use off as the AI’s pretty cheap. There’s also a balloon-popping and free flight mode.

The controls are pretty responsive for motion control, though activities are pretty limited. My game also froze once. Although this won’t hold the attention of older children, my 9-year-old cousin actually enjoyed it. Like Trix, this one’s for kids.

One of the downsides of being a multimedia reporter and the resident gadget guy is that I often walk around with a lot of stuff. Just recently, for example, I was called a pack mule by a coworker at the parking lot after she spied me lugging around a huge ECBC Tomahawk messenger bag and the even more ginormous Slappa Stovepipe Chaos — both packed to the gills with laptops, a mic, hard drive and all sorts of electronics devices. Uh, neigh?

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Then again, both bags can be a little bit huge for everyday use. Heck, they might even give some folks the mistaken impression that I’m overcompensating for something in my otherwise blessed life. With those things in mind and yet another plane trip coming up, I decided it was time to test a new pack for this gadget-loving mule. Enter the Ogio Gambit 17 backpack. The first thing I noticed was that the Gambit 17 has a lot of pockets. This is great for gadget lovers such as myself as it allows me to bring more stuff and indulge my obsessive-compulsive side by organizing them by form and function. It even has one hard-shell pocket for gadgets as fragile as Justin Bieber’s ego. Construction, meanwhile, feels solid and the pack has plenty of padding.

Although it’s said to carry 17-inch laptops, chunkier versions won’t fit in the padded compartment. The edge of the straps also can dig in when the bag is fully loaded. Overall, though, this is a well-built, perfectly-sized backpack for gadget geeks.